They are also bonded & insured

Getting locked out of your car, home, or business is the sort of day-ruining life event we all experience from time to time. Or instead of getting locked out, you may break a key, or need a 24/7 door lock service changed quickly.

If you find yourself in any of these frustrating situations, don't try to save money by attempting to fix the problem yourself.

Instead, here are four compelling reasons it's worthwhile to hire a certified locksmith.

1. Certified locksmiths are highly trained.

When you hire a certified locksmith nearby, you can be sure that they have undergone in-depth training to repair and install a variety of locks. They can quickly and accurately create keys, fix a broken lock, open a locked car door, or install a brand new lock for you. When you choose a professional locksmith, you have peace of mind because you know the job will be completed correctly and in a timely manner.

2. They are also bonded & insured.

Certified locksmiths are typically bonded and insured, which offers you protection against any damages that occur in the course of the job. This means you're completely covered in the unlikely case your door, window, or lock is damaged during the repair or installation process.

While it is unlikely that you will need to make use of this feature, it is reassuring to know your locksmith is credible and responsible enough to go through the process of becoming bonded and insured. If needed, you will be compensated for damaged property.

3. Certified locksmiths keep your property safe.

When you move into a new apartment or house, chances are that someone else has lived there before. If you don't change the locks, you're taking a huge risk. Anyone with a key to that lock will be able to simply walk right in at their leisure, which is unsafe for you.

You may also want to change your locks and replace key after losing a key, lending one to a housesitter or acquaintance who didn't return it, or any other situation that makes you feel uneasy. Hiring a 24/7 apartment locksmith service to change the locks will assure your safety and security in the long-run.

4. They always come through in an emergency.

Getting locked out or having another key-related emergency never seems to happen at a convenient time. It is frustrating and in some cases dangerous to be locked out of your home, business, or car. Sometimes locks malfunction, other times tampering causes them to stop working, and in other cases, keys simply get locked inside.

When you call a certified locksmith, they will evaluate the problem and come up with a solution quickly. Certified locksmiths are normally available whenever you need them, even late at night or on the weekend.

As you can see, hiring a certified locksmith has many advantages. Instead of trying to fix or repair a lock yourself, or break into your home or car after being locked out, save time and frustration by calling a certified locksmith.

QNAP TS-251

There's a tremendous range of prices and capacities available in the NAS (network attached storage) field, and a big part of my job as a reviewer is sorting out the balance of performance, features, and price. It's rare for a NAS device to ace all three categories, but QNAP's TS-251 NAS ($409) comes closer than just about any two-bay SOHO NAS I've tested. This dual-drive NAS offers excellent read/write performance, solid fault tolerance, and a sweet set of features, all of which make it a multimedia content storage star for home or small office networks. You will notice some performance hits with certain processor-intensive tasks such as RAID rebuilds, due to its inexpensive Celeron CPU. That's a worthwhile tradeoff, however, as the processor keeps the price fairly low.

Specs and Design
There are two models available: The TS-251-4G, which ships with 4GB of RAM (reviewed here), and the TS-251 model, which has 1GB of RAM. Both have 512MB of flash memory and ship diskless, which helps account for the low price. The drives accommodate two hot-swappable 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch SATA drives or SSDs (up to 6TB of storage). The SSD support makes the TS-251 a better storage deal than the Asustor AS-602T ($579), which has just 1GB of RAM, also ships diskless, and does not support SSDs.

You also get dual Gigabit Ethernet ports—uncommon in a NAS at this price—for link aggregation and redundancy, along with two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. These ports support printers, external drives, and UPS devices, for example. QNAP also includes an HDMI port so you can attach the drive to an HDTV. The front panel has a one-touch copy button and for physical security, there's a Kensington Security Slot, a small hole to which you can connect an anti-theft lock and cable.

The TS-251 is remarkably affordable for what it offers; one of the few places where its low cost shows is in the rather cheap-looking white plastic housing (like DROBO B810N ). Just keeping the device on my desk for a few days and moving it around a bit during my testing has left it looking a bit beat-up. QNAP's design is nowhere near the attractive, durable, metallic design of the Asustor AS-602T. I even like the Asustor's sturdy drive bays better than the flimsy plastic ones in the TS-251. But, again, the TS-251 is an inexpensive option, and it's reasonable that its design is not as slick as that of more expensive models.

Features and Interface


One of the standout features is multimedia versatility. Thanks to the aforementioned HDMI port on the rear panel, you can play 1080p videos with surround sound from the NAS to an HDTV. The drive also supports on-the-fly and offline HD video transcoding, as well as DLNA and AirPlay streaming. There are also a number of apps within the interface to enhance your digital entertainment including XBMC and Plex Media Server.

I did encounter one issue when trying to open the Digital TV Station app, which purportedly works with a DVB-T USB TV tuner for watching and recording digital TV. I received an error message stating, "Page not found or the Web server is currently unavailable." QNAP representatives told me this feature is not supported in the United States. An error message that explains the feature isn't available would be better, to prevent people from wasting time trying to troubleshoot the problem.

Although the consumer features are the highlights of this NAS, one of my favorite functionalities is virtualization, which will be of more interest to power users and small business owners. Within the interface's Virtualization Station you can create, import, and export Virtual Machines (VMs). If you need to run an app for business use on a specific platform, you can create a VM, and there's no need to buy additional hardware. The VM marketplace expands the TS-251 into an SMB storage solution.

There are even preconfigured templates from which VMs can be created for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. I was able to download virtual appliances from the VM marketplace, which includes apps from VMware. There are virtual appliances for many business tasks including telephony from Avaya, security solutions from Barracuda, document management systems, and much more.


What I especially like about these virtual appliances is that they are portable and can be exported as .qvm or .ovf files and moved to another virtualization platform such as VirtualBox or VMware, providing platform flexibility for businesses as their needs grow.

Remote access to the NAS and its contents occurs via the CloudLink feature and the myQNAP cloud service. I love that remote access does not require any fiddling around with a router or port forwarding.

As with most NAS boxes in his category, the TS-251 supports the SMB/CIFS, AFP, and NFS file systems used by Windows, Mac, and Linux. It also offers now-standard NAS features such as antivirus, backup, and sync, along with IP camera surveillance features.

Performance and Drive Recovery
To test drive speed, I performed a simple 1.48GB file between a Windows 7 laptop and the TS-251 connected to the same switch. The read and write speeds of the file operation were both 113MBps—the fastest I've seen from a two-bay NAS, just edging out the 108MBps of the previous performance champ, the Asustor AS-602T.


The TS-251 I received for testing was configured with RAID 1 mirroring. Since it's hot-swappable, I pulled a drive from the second bay to see how well the system could recover from a simulated drive failure. After a few seconds, the NAS beeped, and I saw pop-up windows stating "Host Drive 2 plugged out" and "Error Host Drive 2 failed." I also went into Disk Manager and saw the RAID status as "Degraded." These are all alarms and notifications I want to see in the event of drive failure.

The other thing I test is how well the NAS can rebuild its RAID array. I replaced the pulled 3GB Seagate SATA drive with a 4GB Seagate drive. After a few seconds the NAS beeped again. I went into the Disk Manager and checked the RAID group. I was happy to see the status marked as "rebuilding." The rebuild process was very slow, however, especially considering I had very little data on the drive. In fact, it took several minutes for the progress bar to indicate that the rebuild was even starting. I attribute this sluggishness to the Celeron processor. I've seen faster rebuilds with newer Intel Atom chips in other two-bay NASes' such as the Asustor AS-602T. It's a poky process, but volume recovery and RAID rebuild does work, and it's likely not something you'll have to do often.

Inexpensive Excellence
I recommend the TS-251. It's a top-performing NAS at a bargain price. You'll notice some sluggishness on processor-intensive tasks like RAID rebuilds, but the unit is a speedy performer on the tasks that you'll be tackling on a daily basis, and that's far more important. The QNAP TS-251 gets our Editors' Choice nod for Consumer/SOHO NASes. For more information on how to choose the right NAS, consult our NAS buying guide.

GOOLOO GP03B 450A Peak Car Jump Starter

It is always great when the manufacturers pack more than one feature in a single device. Not only does it increase convenience and usability – it also adds more value. This is exactly the case with GOOLOO GP03B Jump Starter that can also be used as a portable phone power bank and a LED flashlight too. The best part of this handy device – it is so compact that it will be easy to carry along for whenever you need it. It uses latest components and tech without costing too much.

Design wise, this is a great looking device that’s easy to use and handle. With a total weight of 13 ounces, you could easily mistake it to be a mere smartphone power bank. And yet, this is a fully featured 450 Peak Amps – shock proof, splashproof and dustproof jump starter. The rugged case comes in two colour choices – silver/black and black/red. It is powerful enough to start up 4.0L Gas or 2.5L Diesel Engine and can also be used to recharge your smartphones or tablets. It is convenient enough to be used every day as a backup power for your smart devices. With a 10000 mAh Li-PO (lithium ion polymer) battery cell capacity it will provide 20 jumpstarts for vehicles before it gets empty. The inbuilt LED flashlight with an S.O.S feature will be useful in low-light and emergency situations. You also get an intelligent jump cable with heavy duty clamps, 3 in 1 USB cable, car charger and a user manual in the retail package.

Also see: SUAOKI G7 jump starter

You can’t deny the fact that GOOLOO GP03Boffers everything a vehicle owner needs. This small yet very versatile device should be a part of everyone’s essential car toolkit. We aren’t the only ones impressed with its features and performance. Overwhelmingly positive customer reviews tell a lot about this great device. With a generous 12 + 6 month extended guarantee from the manufacturer this makes GP03B an incredible value for money and only sweetens the deal further. Seeing how this is an impressive value 4-in-1 power tool – it rightfully earns our full recommendation.

Hunten GCS22-70IR Camera Review

There have been a bunch of folks chomping at the bit for this camera that has been long advertized but slow coming. It is here how and after the shipping box shreds finally began to hit the floor I had a set of batteries out and checked ready to play. This camera case has that same great color that we had on the red flash model. My first check was in the dark room and with a new clean card and fresh programming I waited for the camera to arm and flash. The only indication of trigger was the red motion indicator and the green write to card indicator. The first trigger I did hear a filter clunk but all other triggers there after there was no clunk so it only changes on the transition. I am not sensitive to black flash so I could not see any indication of the array going off. Some individuals how ever may be able to see it but I would bet if they did they would have to be very close to the camera. This camera is about 7 inches tall and wide and sticks out off the tree about three and a half inches. There is a bark grabber/cable/strap assembly that needs to be installed with the supplied 4 screws which takes about a minute. After that is a short easy programming procedure to set date/time and function and you are ready to go for a test. I chose the 2MP setting and played a while and the flash pictures were very good and the day color was good with a little fuzz. The color was true and clear.

Not paying much attention to the programming I went back and dug a little deeper. Most every thing is standard except for the burst, active, and delay modes. Each of these has a section where the user can determine the setting. This does not mean that where this camera having a minimum of 15 second delay can be changed to below that but it will allow a range above that to be set. This is the same on the active you can determine the hours you want active. Burst can also be set above the minimum. Every thing about the programming was easy and intuitive. The color view screen is nice and clear and works well. Once you apply power the screen comes on and the review and setup comes on and the plus and negative will allow you to toggle back and fourth. If no buttons are hit when on the review selection for 30 seconds the camera will go ahead and arm and start taking pictures. Trigger is rated at one third second and sensing is out to 60 feet. Flash is rated out to 70 feet.

The still mode is selectable for 2, 3, 5, and 7 MPs, night stills are 5 MP when set to 7 MP. Video has one resolution which is 640X480 with run times of 15, 30, 45, 60 seconds. The SD card size is up to 32 gigs and all this operates off 4 C cell batteries. There is an external port for solar and external battery setup if you choose.

Now I have a few hours invested there are a couple of things that I would work on with this camera. I am not too wild about the bark grabber bracket because of it making the camera stick out off the tree but the weight distribution makes the camera (like MOULTRIE A-20 ) want to sag unless you do the old piece of limb trick under the bottom. Maybe one of our forum vendors could do a CNC trick and develop a flat plate with small grabbers on the edge with cable and strap loops that is tall enough to support the camera. The other thing is the front indicators which definitely need to be covered with a couple of small squares of electrical tape. Even though they are somewhat subdued I could see them very easy in the dark room.

I did an internet sweep to see any reports on this camera and I did see where some individuals stated they could barely see the flash. Back to the dark room and placing the camera up at eye level and being about a foot from the camera I could just see a very slight outline of the emitters. At three feet I could not so I am going to have to still call this camera a black flash. Like stated before there will be some individuals that will be able to maybe see the array at 6 feet but I would not think they could see it any further than that.

One thing I did not mention is that the SD card slot and USB port are just below the buttons and above the view screen on the under edge of the rim. The SD card goes in the slot with the label to the back of the camera. It is a bit hard to access with big fingers. The access latch for the drop down assembly on this camera functions much easier than the previously tested cameras with the same latch.

This after noon I ran my monthly test on the time it takes to contact customer service of each and every trail cam company. The first hour I was able to contact every single company except one. This company answered on the second ring. Moultrie was very slow but did answer in less than 10 minutes. The one company that did not answer was Cuddeback (non 800) and I gave up after 50 minutes when my phone battery beeper let me know it was about to go dead.

The documentation has been done with very good color graphics and is very easy to follow. Absent from the documentation was a good specification chart which is only found on the cardboard backer in the bubble pack the camera came in. We would like to see this chart incorporated in the user manual. I want to get this little cam on the hill as soon as we can get it through the lab process.

11-19-2011 update: Part of the lab work showed that we can figure on about a second of trigger time and the day range is pretty good and a 200% zoom still showed sharp edges. The color is good and with limited sun in the picture they still showed very natural colors. This little camera is beginning to impress me and I think that if we dont get a lot of bad field reported failures this camera should very quickly become an item on some fellows Christmas list (and Scouting Assistant of course).

11-21-2011 update: Night samples are good and day samples are good but transition pictures are going to need some help. During limited light situations the camera wants to adjust the light conditions and we see a light dark sequence in the pictures when we are getting continuous triggers. This camera would be much happier out from under the heavy canopy.

11-25-2011 update: I looks like we did finally get a bunch of new day samples at the 7mp setting and we are now set to video. We will back up after the video samples and gather the other resolution setting pictures. These day pictures came out very good.

12-03-2011 update: We are continuing through the resolutions and in the background we are communicating with the company on some findings. For first out of the door for this company this camera has functioned pretty well. The question now is if our test camera is actually a small part of the problem because it is a very early unit. As the tests at the factory continuing we will also continue the process here. Look for some more advanced updates that may be pending but not confirmed as of yet. If that happens we will make the announcement. Meanwhile we have also been watching the market and some of the comments on some of the outdoor forums. We see what looks like a bit of shill activity happening which makes us believe that maybe some of the competition may have more than a little bit of concern about some of the positive aspects that are being reported. As of now we are on a partial hold on this review until the factory testing catches up and we can report further.



01-21-2012 update: Engineers are aware of the issues we discovered and have reported they are working to correct this. This camera is completing its final operation for battery life. When this is concluded we will report the battery life. this review is closed.

Chamberlain WD832KEV Review

Chamberlain is a manufacturer known for delivering products of exceptional quality and this one is certainly no exception. This particular model is definitely going to deliver a lot of convenience when it comes to opening your garage door. Utilizing this device would enable you to remotely open and close the door of your garage which is definitely useful. All those inconvenient situations in which you had to pull over and manually unlock and open the door would be gone. This is why we prepared this Chamberlain WD832KEV Review. The hope is that it would provide you with everything you need to know about the device. This should enable you to make a proper and informed decision about whether or not it is going to fit your particular needs.

We are going to go through the most impressive features as well as compare the advantages and disadvantages so that at the end you would have all the relevant information. So let’s not waste any more time and jump right to it.

Incredible safety

The unit is equipped with an incredibly modern and advanced Protector System (for example: MIGHTY MULE 350 )  which uses Rapid-Snap sensors to project a beam that is invisible to us across the garage door opening. This would allow the device to automatically reverse the opening process if there is an obstacle underneath the door.

To put this into perspective – if you are parking your car in your garage and you accidentally press the close button, the device would reverse the process if your car is still underneath the door. Imagine the consequences that a slammed door on the roof of your car could have and you would understand how helpful this feature really is.

Belt-driven

The Chamberlain WD832KEV uses a powerful motor which is operating with a belt drive. This is generally considered to be the more preferred option due to the fact that it offers a lot of durability but it doesn’t make as much noise as units with chains. This is incredibly convenient because you could easily install the device in a garage that is right under a room that is habited. You won’t have to worry about the noise because the powerful motor is not going to make any.

Utility and versatility

The Chamberlain WD832KEV comes with a timer-to-close feature. This entails that in the event in which you forget to close the door, it would automatically close after a pre-set interval of time. This period is adjustable and you can set it to one, five or ten minutes.

It is also worth mentioning that the remote control uses the tri-band frequency which is designated to be able to find the most appropriate and at the same time clearest frequencies. This perk means that your remote is going to properly communicate with the door opener at all times, providing you with incredibly reliable performance.

You can also pre-set a four digit code of your own which would prevent anyone else from opening the garage with this remote control.

The special MyQ Technology

This is something that actually adds to the overall versatility of this device. Instead of using the remote control, you could easily download the MyQ Home Control application on your smartphone. The application is available on the major app selling markets so you could obtain it regardless of the operational system of your phone.

However, this means that you don’t necessarily need to buy additional remote controls if your garage fits more than one car and another family member is parking inside. It is incredibly convenient and really does contribute to the versatility that the unit offers.

Of course, as everything else, this unit also has a few minor setbacks. We take these kinds of things very serious because the main aim is to provide the reader with an objective piece of information which would allow him to make a proper decision. This is why we consider the enlisting of advantages and disadvantages especially important. With this in mind, let’s make a quick comparison.

Pros and Cons of Chamberlain WD832KEV Garage Door Opener

Advantages:

• The unit is incredibly quiet and at the same time very powerful which means that you could use it on a wide variety of garage doors.
• It comes with a modern MyQ technology that makes it even more versatile and contemporary.
• It is equipped with a Motor Vibration Isolation System which reduces the inconvenience of loud noise even more.
• The device brings in significant safety as well as security thanks to the variety of protective systems that it is equipped with.

Disadvantages:

• It is rather hard to install. You are going to have to arm yourself with a bit of time and you’d also have to have some reliable technical knowledge in order to handle it yourself.
• The belt tension assembly is also quite hard to install.
• The instructions that are given by the manufacturer could be a bit clearer in order to provide the general person how to properly execute the process himself without the additional need of hiring a professional.

My Business After Hurricane Sandy: Creating a Contingency Plan

Hurricane Sandy was a monumental, hopefully once in a lifetime, storm. As the hurricane approached the East Coast many people frantically prepared to keep their families safe and supplies stocked. There was a run on the stores as people purchased enough food to last for a week, water to drink and gas to run generators and cars. Preparing for the storm consumed most of the weekend as people looked to see what Hurricane Sandy would do.

As a business owner the challenge is twofold: caring for your family and caring for your business. It is Wednesday and here in Maryland I still do not have power. As someone who is self employed that means I do not have access to the power needed to run my laptop, internet access to email clients and employees, or a charged phone to get on scheduled conference calls. For women that are self employed storms and other natural disasters can create more than a hiccup as deadlines get missed and the needs of clients go unaddressed. While Hurricane Sandy is not likely to repeat itself in the near future winter storms are on the way throughout the country so learning how to prepare your business for a natural disaster or severe storm can help make sure you company does not go down when the lights do.

Read to Succeed: A-List Business Books

With one eye on deadlines and bottom-lines, and the other on client and customer relations, it’s easy to lost sight of professional goals. And, to maintain a palpable level of on-the-job inspiration.

Some days you feel at the top of your game, full of energy and vision. Others, it’s high anxiety, frustration, failure or an overall sense of defeat. You start sweating about your ideas, your integrity… ugly self-talk that sucks the wind out of your sails and incites fantasies of sudden illness and several days in bed so you can recharge.

When motivation and professional satisfaction walk out on you, getting back in your groove can happen two ways: You can hand in your resignation (this, I don’t recommend), or you can, “Try looking at it another way,” as suggested in the movie “James and the Giant Peach”.